Today, you may take a trip to Disney World
for the ride of a lifetime. A quick excursion on a Caribbean cruise promises
to whisk you away from the world’s troubles. Drug stores offer pills to
cure your headaches, insomnia and sexual dysfunction. A gleaming car races
into the sunset providing romance that promises a happy ending. A Sports
Utility Van plows through big mud puddles to land you at the top of a
rugged mountain pass.

(Happiness
can be something as simple as a little brother helping his sister
onto the saddle of a horse, or pulling her in a wagon or going
fishing.)

In other words, “things” become the
origin of your happiness. What things make you happy? A major soft
drink company features a powerful advertisement at the movies: open a
bottle of “happiness.” Exactly how do you become happy by
drinking a bottle of soda pop? Another advertisement shows families
sitting down to a “happy meal” in a wondrous setting. How long
do you remain happy with a “thing” that you bought?

All “things” become a 21st
century phenomenon: manufactured happiness.

In America today, corporations drone
their “happiness” from one commercial to the other in an endless
line of material goods. Once you possess that sleek new car, you may
drive into eternal bliss. A certain pill guarantees you younger
skin, perfect sleep and fabulous sexual delight.

However, there’s a catch. For
countless people, happiness eludes them whether by fate, choice or
circumstance.

On one of my bicycle adventures, a
preacher walked up to me to brag about how he decided to take three
months leave to bicycle across America. I met him in Durango,
Colorado on my own coast-to-coast bicycle adventure.

“I preached for 25 years, raised my
kids and asked my wife if I could make this journey to find myself,”
he said. “She gave me her blessings.”

“That’s great,” I said. “What
have you learned?”

“I never knew of anything beyond my
congregation,” he said. “I’ve been frightened at what I see
out here in the world beyond my flock. Many people argue with me
about God. Some don’t like me preaching to them. Others could
care less about God. They believe so much more differently than I.”

“That’s the beauty of adventure,”
I said. “It teaches every traveler a new lesson daily. I’m
happy for you to take such a risk of renewal. This is your chance to
allow the world to teach you. Listen well. It will make you a better
pastor.”

Another time while on tour, a
40-year-old fellow walked up to me, “Why are you traveling on that
bike? How far have you come?”

“About 100,000 miles in my lifetime,”
I said.

“I could never do that,” he said.
“I nearly died during childbirth. I don’t want to tempt fate. I
can’t free myself from my fear of death.”

I said, “Has your story done you any
good for 40 years?”

“I can’t help it,” he said. “It
runs in my mind.”

“That’s a choice,” I said. “How
about deleting the word ‘can’t’ and insert the word ‘can’.
Quit defeating yourself with your thought patterns that support your
failures via your words.”

“I never considered that,” he said.

“Start thinking and speaking in
positive terms,” I said. “You can conquer the world if you
choose to think you can.”

I met an old man once in Christchurch,
New Zealand. He spoke these words that I remember to this day.

“There was once a man who told a joke
to an audience three times,” he said. “Everyone laughed the
first time he told the joke. He told it again for a second time a
few minutes into his speech, but only half the audience laughed.
Finally, he told it one more time, but no one laughed. He
admonished the audience, ‘If you won’t laugh at my joke after you
heard it for the third time, why do you keep crying about the same
problems over and over again?’”

As with the 40-year-old man, he
obsessed with his near-death problem for most of his life. It
crippled him against his potential. The preacher sat inside his
pulpit to isolate himself from the tribulations of the world.

In your life moving toward genuine
happiness, try a new coat on for size:

If we obsess over problems, they
become real. Choose to delete them from your daily mental and
verbal expressions.

Choose a sense of elation in your
daily routine.

Instead of focusing on “things”
for happiness, seize the moment whether it is a walk in the park,
watching a movie or going dancing.

If you really want a taste of
happiness, volunteer to help someone less fortunate or some cause
such as picking up cans and plastic out of a river.

Drastically reduce; even delete
the television from your daily living.

Authentic happiness stems from living
simply, creating purpose in your life and sharing it with friends you
enjoy. You can’t get any of that out of a soda pop bottle.